January Highlights: Writing, Reading, and Outlining

I give up. I don’t know what normal weather here in the midwest is anymore. We had a few good snow falls earlier in the winter, but part way through this month all the snow melted. Which generally happens sometime each winter, except this year it kept getting warmer. We had a few days was it was in the 50s and 60s! I went out shopping with no coat! And we saw the sun. That was a nice treat.

A few days before the day it was sunny, my brother mentioned how the weather was supposed to be cloudy for the next week and a half. Mom made a comment about ‘no sun’ and I blinked. The sun? Right. I forgot about the sun… And then I wished they’d not mentioned it because I started missing it, despite the drama of mist and gray weather.

My Life

Home life is busy. My sister and I used to split a number of tasks, but now she is either at college or work six days out of seven so I have a little more to do. Though with a brother who helps make bread now, and Mom and I splitting laundry days, it isn’t too bad.

My own job of knitting hats is easing up. I’m only making ten a week now and generally go to the shop three days a week for an hour or hour and a half.

I’ve also started trying my hand at calligraphy (read: I got the markers out and doodled with them one night when I couldn’t think about writing anymore.) And I’m trying to find time for painting. Kind of. Watercolor is very fun, but it’s not high on my list of things to do; not with all the writing I’ve been doing.

Writing

Every month I seem to try and do more…

WIPs

Shadows of the Hersweald is going well. After working through beta reader corrections and some polishing of my own, it is now in the hands of an editor.

I outlined Scarlet Rose this month. First the book, then the trilogy and overall character arcs. When I decided to write a trilogy, I didn’t realize how more than one book complicated a story arc. But I am pleased with the results of my brainstorming. I’ve the main plot points of each book worked out and am working an hour a day on Scarlet Rose itself.

Fidelyon… *insane laugh* I have, umm, reoutlined this novel. I knew something was missing and finally realized the first half of the main character’s arc was missing and there was no definite midpoint to the story. So I’m plunging into another rewrite. Well, I say rewrite… some parts will stay the same, with just minor changes. Other parts, especially in the first few chapters and pretty much the whole last quarter, are up for a major overhaul. I’m excited about it, even if I do wish I could just GET THIS NOVEL DONE!

Other Writing

A good friend of mine (who also designs the covers of my books) created a blog this month. You can go check her out here. 🙂

Writer’s Confessions

Sometimes I run a search on my own blog to find past articles

I schedule posts a month in advance but don’t add content until about a week before they are due to be posted. So if I ever die vanish into another world, you guys are going to get a bunch of blank posts… *smirks*

I can’t brainstorm on lined paper. I can outline with lines, but I need blank paper to let my ideas flow right

When I do use lined paper for notes, I write super small, fitting two lines in the space of one line. Still not sure why I do that…

I have been writing for years, but grammar remains a mystery and sometimes even spellcheck doesn’t recognize my words

I use the effort of brainstorming a project or the triumph of finishing an outline or manuscript as an excuse to go get onion rings at Culvers

Me

Yep, you never really know. Same if I am humming under my breath. I might be happy, or I might be trying to keep frustration or stress contained…

Oh, one final bit of news. I was on Kingdom Pen‘s first Live Panel Writers Discussion last week, talking about writing for a full hour! I was supposed to be one of three writers, but due to technical difficulties, I was the only one who ended up getting on. So it was just the moderator and I. But it still went well and I think all involved had fun.

So, what about you? Have you seen the sun much this winter? Have you ever outlined a book series before? What is your favorite treat to reward yourself with during or after your writing?

Interested in being on the inside of the publication and marketing process, helping me take over the hearts and minds of the world one story at a time? Join my street team…ahem, army, the Legendaires. Click here for more information.

What do you expect? You write a book all about how bad mist is, of course it will descend on you in revenge. Though I’ve said nothing against it, and we still haven’t seen the sun much lately either. It’s a wonder when it comes out and you rediscover what “light” means and what shadows are.

When I’m taking notes for class (on the rare occasions that my notes actually have anything to do with the class material) I fit two lines of writing in one line of paper. It does use less space that way, but when I’m going back over my notes later it can be hard to tell what I was saying.

My Book Progress

Don't miss a post!

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address

I am on Instagram

Something is wrong.

Instagram token error.

Archives

Archives

All Amazon links are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission on the product.

Terms and Conditions of Use The content provided on this blog is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information found on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in the information available on this site or by following any link on this site nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. These terms and conditions of use are subject to change at any time and without notice.

Privacy Policy We do not share personal information or behavioral information with third parties. We do not store information we collect about your visit to this blog for use other than to analyze content performance through the use of cookies, which you can turn off at any time by modifying your web browser's settings. We are not responsible for the republishing of the content found on this blog on other websites or media without our permission. This privacy policy is subject to change at any time and without notice.